SC 'To Take A Call' On Listing Plea Seeking Permission To Give Exams With Hijab

In their plea seeking interim, the students have said that the exams start from 9 March.

Image : (Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday, 22 February, said that he will take a call on listing a plea, filed by Hijab-clad Muslim girls in Karnataka, seeking interim directions to let them sit for exams in government colleges.

Advocate Shadan Farast, appearing for the students, mentioned the matter before the CJI and asked for urgent listing since the exams are slated to begin from 9 March.

"Why are they prevented from taking the examination?", CJI asked.

"Because they are wearing headscarfs", Farasat replied.

"I will take a call on this", the CJI said, according to LiveLaw.

In October 2022, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on appeals challenging the March 15, 2022 Karnataka High Court judgment upholding the ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms in pre-university colleges.

While Justice Hemant Gupta (now retired) had upheld the high court order, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia set it aside and called the right to wear the hijab in classrooms “a matter of choice” and a “fundamental right”.

This meant status quo (ban on hijabs in educational institutions in Karnataka) would continue until the case was decided by a larger bench.

Earlier this year, The Supreme Court on Monday, 23 January, had agreed to consider taking up an application seeking interim directions to ensure Muslim girls in Karnataka can appear for practical exams which happen only in government colleges.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the girls, said that they had moved to private institutions after they lost one academic year due to the Hijab ban imposed by the government pre-university colleges.

(With inputs from LiveLaw)